Pens
by Arisa Aihara
Summary: When someone kept throwing pens at you, you might get annoyed. But to Roxas, only Namine's penthrowing could ever bring him back to reailty. But wait, observe the pens and you'll see what she's really trying to say. Too bad Roxas wasn't a good observer!
1. Chapter 1

**_Pens_**

"Roxas...!"

As always, after he heard that calm voice, he felt something hit his head. Wincing a bit, he looked: ah, _another _one of these. Sighing quietly, Roxas bent down and picked up a ball pen. He could make out a picture of a grinning gorilla saying, _"Lovely Utah"_ on the ball pen. He looked up and saw his friend and classmate, Naminé, standing by the front door of the class.

"To the library, Day Dreamer," she teased with her usual smile. She then stuck her tongue out playfully before walking away with Kairi, Olette and Selphie. Roxas looked once more at the _Lovely Utah _ball pen before shaking his head. He placed the pen into his bag, and thought of the box back at home: see, he had this box, which was full of other pens and colour pencils that Naminé had thrown at him to get his attention.

Yep, you read it right: the pens and colour pencils she had _thrown _at him to get his attention.

Because he was _such _a Day Dreamer.

All right, it _was _an effective way to get one's attention, but _what the hell?_ She had been doing it since they were six! And whenever she threw a pen or a colour pencil at him, she never, ever, came back to collect them. Roxas had tried to ask her whether she wanted them back or not, but each time he tried, Naminé would always - somehow - 'disappear' mysteriously.

"You heard her, Day Dreamer — to the library!" Sora said, nudging him by the shoulder as he walked past, grinning his trademark grin.

"Shut up," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. Only Sora, his cousin, knew how the box at home was overflowing with Naminé's pens and other writing/art tools. Sora was his cousin, and Roxas had lived with him ever since his parents died back when he was ten. "I'm _not _a day dreamer — why does she keep calling me that?"

"My dear cousin," Sora said in a would-be wise voice, "why d'you _think _she keeps throwing pens at you to _get your attention?_ Heck (he stopped sounding wise here), you won't even lift your head if I shout at you using a microphone!"

"That's not true," Roxas denied flatly. "I mean…that's just not true."

Okay. Maybe it was true. Well, a bit true. Gah! Okay, fine! He _was _a Day Dreamer! But it's not like he's dreaming about flying to Hollywood or anything — he was just…thinking.

Yeah.

Thinking about…life.

Like...why the chalk is white.

Okay, chemistry time. It's white because - forget about it.

Or, like, why those who did not work hard in school, and ended up being a singer, could earn more money that those who worked their asses off in school, and ended up being a lecturer, but could _never _earn as much as the former ones.

See? Stuff like that.

So basically, he was NOT day dreaming!

He was NOT a day dreamer!

Or so he said.

—X—

He felt something hit his shoulder. That item fell onto the floor with a small noise. He turned to look: a red colour pencil…coming from his northeast.

Naminé.

Roxas glanced up to see blue eyes looking at him. She cocked her head slightly to the front: Mr. Leonheart was pacing around the class and was approaching his row. Quickly, Roxas turned his attention to the mathematics questions he had on his table. Each student had they heads bent down so low — Mr. Leonheart, or Sir Leon for short, was a fierce maths teacher (no kidding, he walked around carrying his Gunblade…)

Sir Leon passed his desk without saying anything, and he quietly sighed in relief. How Naminé dared to throw a colour pencil during Sir Leon's class, he had no clue. Roxas mouthed a 'thank you' and Naminé merely smiled one of her gentle smiles before turning to her maths questions. Day dreaming in Sir Leon's class was _not _a god idea…

Thank goodness Naminé and her pens and colour pencils were there to save him!

—X—

Roxas caught up with Naminé at the end of school. She was at her locker, keeping some books away. Olette waved goodbye to her, and that left Naminé alone. Sora was already gone with Kairi (man, those two were _so _doing fine…). He took a deep breath and exhaled, and made his way towards her.

He leaned against the locker next to hers and held up the _Lovely Utah _ball pen for her to see. He waited for her response. She gave a sideways glance. He lifted his eyebrows, waiting.

"Click it and you're ready to write," she provided helpfully, smiling and closing her locker.

"And the _other _pens?" he asked.

"Click 'em, just click 'em," she said. "I hate pens with caps, so, yeah."

He stared. "You're being sarcastic."

"I'm being sarcastic?"

"You _know _what I mean."

"I know what you mean."

"You do?"

"Do I, now?"

"Naminé!"

"Roxas Hikari!"

Roxas groaned and Naminé laughed.

"Naminé, there's a box full of freaking pens and colour pencils that you've—"

"Later, Roxas," she said, waving. She's doing it again! Walking away from him when he's going to return her things! "Mum's making cookies and she might destroy the kitchen without me…"

Roxas gave her the 'don't you dare!' look, but she merely retreated and waved at him. A group of students walked past, separating the two, and when they were away, she was gone.

Damn, how did she do that?

—X—

Roxas was lying on his stomach in his room, staring at the pen and the red colour pencil he had in his hands. Beside him were the blue colour pencil (he got that during gym class) and the _Itex _drawing pen (and he got _that _during lunch). He then frowned at the box across the room. The label read _'Naminé's Stationeries…When Am I Gonna Return Them?'_ and the words were written in red letters. Roxas aimed and threw the _Lovely Utah _ball pen and it got into the box. Bull's eye! Aaand Roxas Hikari scored again!

He picked up the colour pencil and aimed again. Will he be able to score yet again? We shall wait and see…! He jumps — he aims — oh, no he's blocked but — ah, nonetheless, he got away and, and, and —

"BOOH!"

Roxas took no notice and threw the colour pencil into the box.

"And he scores AGAAAIIN! WAHOO!" Roxas shouted, punching the air. He rolled over and saw Sora standing at his doorway. This made him jump. "Jeez, _cousin, _don't you ever knock?"

"I did, like, ten times! I even 'booh'ed you, didn't you hear me?" Sora said, rolling his eyes.

"No, I didn't…"

Suddenly Sora grinned. "Oh yeah, only Naminé's pen-throwing could bring _you_ back to reality!" He took a pencil and threw it to Roxas, imitating Naminé's actions. "Roxas," he said in a high pitched voice, "Roxas you Day Dreamer, snap out of it—"

Roxas threw the Paopu fruit-shaped pillow towards a cackling Sora and he dodged away.

"Man, you guys are romantic!" he said.

"What d'you mean?" he snapped.

"It's like, you guys are sending secret messages to one another or something. Like, green means 'you look cute today!' while red means 'you're hawt today!'"

"Man, shut the hell up!" Roxas said, his face burning. Again, Sora cackled like mad. Messages? What _messages? _Like, hell! Sora NEEDED to shut up! Why? Well, because he, O' Glorious Roxas, can NOT be seen BLUSHING in front of anyone! "Out, Sora!"

"Oh, come on! I was joking!"

"OUT!"

Sora dodged Roxas' alarm clock and instead, it hit Cloud's head when he passed by. Cloud was Sora's brother. And I assure you, like any other brothers, Cloud was not pleased to be hit with an alarm clock on the head. Sora stopped cackling. Then, both cousins pointed at each other.

"Blame Sora!"

Blame _Roxas_!"

They glared at each other, eyes narrowed.

"Blame him!"

"Blame _him!"_

Cloud gave both of them his death glare, and both boys jumped with an 'eep!' before slamming their bedroom doors shut. Cloud shook his head.

"Always does the trick," said he, and walked away.

_Pens chapter one —owari desu—_

A/N: Positive feedback: on to chapter two. Negative feedback: Delete.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Pens_**

Roxas was now lying on his back, his right hand raised, holding the _Itex _drawing pen. What Sora said back then was stuck in his mind at the moment.

Messages? …Was it possible? Was she sending messages…?

Hmm.

As he stared at the pen, slowly, an image of the pen's owner came to his mind - her bright skin, her blue eyes, her delicate fingers, her blonde hair... Her blonde hair... Somehow, he remembered this familiar scent when he thought of her hair. What was it? He couldn't really put a finger on it, but that scent was really, _really _familiar to him - and it always reminded him of Naminé.

"…And _why _am I listening to SORA again?" he reminded himself as he rolled to his side, sighing. She only threw pens at him to get his attention, asking him to snap out of it… Nothing more than that, right…?

…To _get his attention…_ Hmm…

Again, his face felt hot. Why oh why was this happening to him…? These things only happen in stories, or games or anime or manga, or in fan fictions - NOT in real life!

Naminé…his graceful, calm friend…trying to send messages to _him?_ Could it be…?

Quickly, Roxas sat up and took the pens and colour pencils he got that day: red colour pencil, blue colour pencil, _Itex _drawing pen and _Lovely Utah _ball pen… He squinted hard at them; trying to guess what 'message' Naminé was trying to give to him. - well, if what Sora said were true, that is.

Red.

Blue.

_Itex _drawing pen.

_Lovely Utah _ball pen.

Red.

Blue.

_Itex _drawing pen.

_Lovely Utah _ball pen.

Red.

Blue.

_Itex _drawing pen.

_Lovely Utah _ball pen.

... ... ... ... ... ...!

Man, this was impossible. How could someone send messages through ball pens? And Sora's not worth listening to, anyway. Sora was his dorky cousin! He should've known better, really. Stretching and yawning, Roxas got up to finish his _'Firaga Element and How To Control It'_ essay. Maybe this time, he could ask for Sora's help.

Because he's the freakin' Keyblade Master.

—X—

"So you know — first you summon your Keyblade like so—" a flash of light, and Sora was holding his Keyblade "—And then you sort of, err, collect that Firaga element and then BOOM! FIRE!"

Sora _literally _fired when he said 'FIRE!'. Luckily the fire zoomed out of the window and then it hit something that Roxas _wished_ wasn't Cloud's motorbike or anything.

"Oops. Hehe. Carried away," Sora said. "So you get it, right?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'm not _dumb. _I was asking about how the element Fira got evolved to Firaga, NOT how to shoot fire out of your Keyblade."

"No! Did you _really?"_ Sora asked in a fake surprised voice. Roxas rolled his eyes yet again. "Both you and I know how it evolved to Firaga, so, yeah."

"Yeah. But I dunno how to turn it into words."

"Me neither!"

Rule number one: Never ask Sora to help you with your homeworks (again) because he's not much of a help.

Sora leaped off the chair and examined the box of pens. "Hey Roxas?"

"What?"

"When are you going to return these? And when will she stop giving?"

Question to Ponder: How come Sora could ask brilliant questions at times?

"I dunno," Roxas said, turning away from his essay and looking at the box. "When I stop Day Dreaming I guess."

"Yeah, like _that'll _ever happen."

"I heard that."

"It was _meant _to be heard."

Roxas glared. "You're not really helping here…"

"Well, what's so hard? She's your friend, right?"

"Um…yeah."

"So just toss the pens back to her!" Sora said patiently. Right after that, Cloud called from downstairs.

"Sora! Phone call."

Sora skipped out of Roxas' room, asking, "Is it Kairi?" in a singsong voice. Roxas sat there, thinking. What an idea: just toss the pens back to her!

—X—

"Naminé!"

The blonde turned at the sound of her name, and Roxas quickly tossed the three pens (and a colour pencil) he'd gotten for that day (a fountain pen, _Glorious Go! Go! _colour pencil, and a _Faber-Castell Multimark 1520 _marker). Naminé hastily caught them, and looked at him quizzically. Roxas flashed her a smile (and he didn't seem to know how that smile could melt thousands of girls' hearts) that said, "thanks for earlier (he was caught day dreaming for three times: a) during assembly b) during Sir Leon's maths lecture and c) recently when the teacher said that they were free to go out for lunch)".

"Sora said we're sort of exchanging 'secret messages' to one another through your pens," he said in a kidding voice. He thought he saw Naminé tensed up a bit. "But you know Sora," he said quickly, "he's — he's Sora, just silly Sora…so… Yeah, forget it. It's stupid."

And then Hayner slapped his back and they began to talk loudly together, joined later by both Pence and Sora.

'Forget it, it's stupid.'

Man...Roxas did not know how those words had hurt Naminé.

—X—

The last class they had for the day was the music class. Again, they practiced playing _Dearly Beloved _and _Hikari _on the piano. Those who played well would be sent to the annual concert. Roxas did OK, well; there were a few mistakes in the beginning, but nonetheless. He escaped with a 'Practice makes perfect" lecture from the teacher.

Kairi even did a sing-along while she played. The teacher was, of course, very pleased. Sora wanted to do a sing-along too, but the effect wasn't that nice. So the teacher had to shout at him to stop singing (because he was singing so very loudly).

Naminé did OK too. The teacher merely gave her the usual comment — good, practice more, blah, blah, blah — but somehow, Roxas felt that she did great. The way she walked towards the piano, the way she sat down, the was she placed her fingers on, the way her foot stepped onto the pedal, her calm expression — _everything — _was perfect. Then again, she _was _Naminé, the girl who received love letters under her desk and all. She was naturally graceful…and gentle too. She'd gently decline all offers to be someone's girlfriend. The way she did it seemed so gentle, so…so…_caring._

It amazed Roxas so much at times. Fascinated him so much at times . . . .

A pencil flew across the room and hit Roxas on the head.

"Oww!"

He turned, scowling, and saw Hayner snickering with Sora next to him, grinning. "Wake up, Day Dreamer!" Hayner said. Roxas rolled his eyes. The two continued to laugh. Roxas' eyes met Naminé's — usually she didn't mind other classmates imitating her actions — but this time, she looked…maaan, she looked _pissed off!_

"Okay class is dismissed!" the teacher said, and they all raced out of the third musical room (A/N: OURAN! XD). Naminé was one of the first to disappear. Was she mad at him for some reason? Jeez, he wished he knew…

Roxas went to get his bag (they couldn't bring bags inside the musical room — don't ask why) with Sora and the others.

"Why did you tease her so?" Roxas asked Hayner.

"Well, s'not like she ever _cared," _Hayner said lazily. Olette passed by. "Hey, Olette!"

"Hayner! Why did you tease her so?" Olette snapped.

"Who?"

"NAMINÉ!"

"_What? _It's not like she ever _CARED _before!C'mon, guys, did I miss something?" the taller boy asked, confused.

Hayner received a sudden blow from Selphie. "HAAAYYNERRR! Why did you tease Naminé like that?"

"Yeah, why did you tease her?" Roxas said, siding the girls. But then, suddenly, Selphie hit him using the thick book as well. "Oww! What's that for?" he said, frowning abgrily as he rubbed his shoulder

"And you! You're just the same!" Selphie said. "C'mon, Olette! Let's look for Nami-chan!"

"Yeah, later Hayner," Olette said, looking at Hayner sourly as if he'd done something really wrong.

"Did I miss something?" both Roxas and Hayner chorused, rubbing their left shoulder where Selphie had hit them.

Roxas went to his bag and kept his books. When he unzipped the bag, the first things he saw inside the bag were… a fountain pen, a _Glorious Go! Go! _colour pencil and _Faber-Castell Multimark 1520 _marker…

Oookaaayyy…so she didn't want them back when he'd returned them?

Weird.

—X—

"But if you DO stop, that'll mean you two can't share your secret messages anymore!" Sora said. They were supposed to be doing their homeworks at home right now, but instead, Sora had brought up the pen-throwing topic. Roxas said he wanted to return the pens and colour pencils and he wanted the pen-throwing to stop, and he didn't tell Sora this, but he wanted to ask her _why _she returned the three items back to him when it should be hers.

"I _told _you, we're not passing any secret messages!" Roxas said, though this time around, he managed to keep it cool. "You seriously think we're passing messages?" he asked. It was weird…why would she refuse her stationeries when he returned them? As if she was…

…Trying to say something…trying to _send a secret message…_

"Yep! One hundred and ten percent sure!" Sora said, winking and giving him a thumbs-up.

"Okay then," Roxas said, "suppose she _is _trying to pass me a message. What would the message be? And _how _the heck did she send the messages to me? I mean — they're all PENS. PENS don't go _'I have a message for you!'_"

Sora pulled a thinking face. He frowned a great deal, but then his face lightened up. "I know!" he said.

"Enlighten me then." He passed Sora the red and blue colour pencils, _Itex _drawing pen and the _Lovely Utah _ball pen he'd gotten earlier the other day. Roxas then folded his arms.

"Well, I know that pens can't talk and pens aren't words. So, you'll have to use your brain a bit, cousin. Look here…"

Roxas frowned, and looked.

Sora sat on the floor, and carefully placed the red colour pencil down. "Roses are red…" he said, and placed the blue one next to the red one, "violets are blue…" Roxas didn't see where this was going. Roses are red, violets are blue, Itex Lovely Utah? _The hell? _"I just want to say," Sora continued, "Itex Lovely Utah! Hahahahhahahahahahaaaaaa!"

Note to Self: NEVER take Sora seriously.

"Not funny, Sora."

"Yeah, cuz you're SO hoping for some kind of message, weren't you?" Sora laughed, rolling on the floor. Yeah, he WAS hoping for a kind of message. Naminé really looked offended and Roxas didn't understand why she wanted him to keep the three pens! He really didn't get it. Roxas threw the Paopu fruit-shaped pillow at Sora. "What?" Sora snapped, sitting up. "I was just kidding! Look here: Roses are red, violets are blue, I just want to say, **I**tex **Love**ly **U**tah! I love you! See? See?"

Reminder: Never underestimate Sora Strife ever again.

Roxas stared. For like. HOURS. At the pens and colour pencils.

And then slowly — very slowly — everything clicked. Bingo, Roxas Hikari, _bingo._

Naminé. Loved. _Him._

It's a fan fiction came true!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!

Roxas Hikari, the town's Prince Charming, was Princess Naminé's crush? OH MY GOD! Send out the invitation! The whole Kingdom is invited to their wedding ceremony! Bring presents along! Play the wedding song! Here comes the bride…with her colour pencils…! Oh no! Wait! He hadn't bought any wedding rings yet! What to do?

"ROXAS! JEEZ, WAKE UP!"

Something his head three times. _Pens._

So. Pens could REALLY make him snap out of it, huh?

He rubbed his head furiously.

"Okay, okay! I heard you…" Roxas stared at the box for a while, and took out the pens and colour pencils that he found in his bag. "What about this one? What message can you get from these?" he asked urgently. He shoved the fountain pen, the _Glorious Go! Go! _colour pencil, and the _Faber-Castell Multimark 1520 _marker pen into Sora's hands.

"Well, let's see…" Sora said, and within seconds, he seemed to have gotten the message. It would take Roxas three lifetimes to figure it out. "You owe me a Sea Salt ice cream for this Roxas, cuz it says 'Glorious Fountain, 15.20'."

"…Uh…?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Meet her at the Glorious Fountain at 15.20! As in 3.20 p.m., nimrod."

Roxas gulped. If the 'Roses are red' message was mere coincidence (or if Sora was just being stupid), then how would you explain _this _message? "T-try another one…"

He passed him the ones that he got on the previous Thursday. On that day, he broke up with senior student, Rina (he didn't even _know _why they were a couple for a while. Ah well, being the popular guy and all, you know)…

"Aww, man, she's upset," Sora said.

"What? What izzit?"

"You owe me 10 munny, deal?"

Roxas groaned. "Fine, deal."

"She said that even though she's the 'erasable colour pencil', she's also the 'permanent ball pen liner' so why not be her soul mate?"

Roxas stared at the pens. One of the _Erasable Colour Pencil _and the other was the _Permanent Pilot Ball Liner._

"But what does she mean by 'erasable colour pencil'?" Roxas asked.

"Well," Sora said lazily, "invisible, easy-to-forget, easy-to-ERASE from one's mind, easily forgotten. But she's also the permanent type, meaning she won't cheat on you. This one says 'you forgot my birthday'," he added casually, "20 munny for me please."

"WHAT!"

"What? That's only _fair, _I help you, and you pay me—"

"No, I mean — her birthday?" Roxas repeated, trying to look at the pens as if he could understand them. He then smacked his forehead. "Jeez I'm such an idiot!" He actually forgot about her birthday! And when's that? Like, two weeks ago! Roxas, she's SO going to file a divorce now…! Wait. They're not married yet. Hmm. Well, Roxas, she's SO going to break up with you now! Wait. They weren't a couple. Err. So. Roxas, she's SO going to…to…end the friendship you two shared! Yeah…sounds more like it…

But DUDE! YOU RUINED YOUR OWN CHANCE TO SAY YOU LOVE HER! What happened at school was bad enough (no thanks to Hayner), and now this? Damn…how could he had forgotten her birthday…?

"Er — here, here, and — here, buy your own Sea Salt ice cream," Roxas said, throwing about 40 munny onto the bed."

"Cool! Hey, where are _you _going?"

"Apologising to Nami-chan!" Roxas shouted as he dashed downstairs as quickly as he could. Cloud was watching the TV downstairs.

"Where are you going? It's almost 9 p.m.," Cloud said.

"To Naminé's. It's urgent," Roxas said, pulling on his jacket and picking up his skateboard.

"How important, exactly?"

Roxas stopped. "Let's say, Tifa Lockhart is dying at the hospital, how important is _that _to you?"

Cloud blinked.

"Gotta go!" he said, dialling Naminé's number at the same time as he zoomed down the road. "C'mon, pick up, pick up, pick up…please pick up, Naminé…please…"

But no one answered. Well, he's going to go to Naminé's house no matter what, and he's going to apologise to her for his idiocy and his stupidity.

_Pen chapter two —owari desu—_

A/N: Man, this is fast-paced…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: To MORTMYRE, why did you copy my fanfic? To all of you, if you find another fanfic with the same tile (PENS), report an abuse. If you doubt on which one is the original fanfic, you can always check the publishing date. The other author is SURELY, PURELY COPYING MY IDEAS. 

**_Pens_**

He pressed the doorbell again. Come on, come on, come on… It was freezing cold and he didn't know how long he could stand it.

"Naminé!" he tried calling as he pressed the doorbell again. Was she ignoring him? "C'mon…c'mon…just one more chance…c'mon… Naminé!" He had said her name loudly, and then—

"D'you know what _time _it is right now, boy?" barked the neighbour, obviously irritated. "Go home!"

Roxas quietly cursed the man. He pressed the doorbell for one last time. When no one answered yet again, he gave up (he had the urge to pee so badly) and so he left. But he couldn't help looking back at Naminé's house, just in case she was standing there looking at him or something. But he saw no one. No Naminé, no one.

When he got back (and after spending a few minutes in the bathroom), he found Sora still in his bedroom. He was sitting on the bedroom floor along with the pens and colour pencils. He was still figuring out the messages, and he had a piece of paper on which he wrote down the messages that he'd hacked. He grinned when Roxas came in.

"So, any luck?"

"Nope. She didn't answer the door," Roxas replied, throwing himself onto the bed. He took a few minutes to think of how idiot he'd been. "So what didja get?"

"You owe me 180 munny!" Sora provided happily, pointing at the pens. "Dude, you have these things with you all the time and you've never noticed…she's confessed to you hundreds of times!"

_Yeah, thanks for making me feel worse, Sora._

Sora went on. " Look, these pens say 'distance should bring us closer' (he pointed at several colour pencils and pens). This was back then when you had to go to Zanarkand for that _Struggle_ competition, remember? You were wondering whether she missed you or not, but it turned out that you've got the answer all along in that box!"

Yeah, it was a year ago when Roxas had to go to Zanarkand for the Struggle competition. Naminé didn't even call or send any letters to him, and he felt bad about it. Didn't she miss him? Not as lovers, but as friends — didn't she miss her friend? Then it struck him: she must've felt bad when he had no clue about this whole message-through-pen-tossing thingy.

"Plus, remember that day when all the girls fussed about how beautiful the rainbow was?" Sora continued. "You were like, "Girls are silly, liking rainbows and all", right? Well, actually Naminé was shy — she loved rainbows too, but since you think it's silly, she didn't say anything. _Instead, _she gave you this: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple — rainbow colours! She likes rainbows too, man…you just didn't know that…"

Roxas rolled to one side and groaned. Roxas, you're pathetic. "I'm pathetic…"

Sora cheered. _"Now _you're talkin'!"

Roxas gave him a glare. "If you're so good, solve _this: _a man is 3 times older than his son. 6 years ago, the product of their ages was 420. Calculate their current ages!"

Sora blinked. "Uh. Repeat?"

"A man is 3 times older than his son. 6 years ago, the product of their ages was 420. Calculate their current ages."

Sora blinked, and looked up to the ceiling, counting something using his fingers and muttering things under his breath. "3 times…6 years ago…hmm…" He finally looked at Roxas. WHAT? Could it be? His cousin, Sora Strife, could solve something like that (not that it was hard) only by _staring at the ceiling?_

"Gee, I dunno, Roxas."

Roxas fell of the bed anime style.

Question to ponder: Should you or should you NOT look at Sora as a smart person? Insert a huge question mark here.

Roxas sat back up, sweatdropping, and changed the subject. "Okay, never mind… Listen, if _you _be my Code Breaker and crack all the messages, I'll treat you Sea Salt ice cream for a year."

Sora's eyes lightened up. "A _year? _Really? You SERIOUS?"

Roxas pulled on his "serious business" face. He _was _serious about this. "Positive."

"Yosh! To work! To work! Bring it on, bebeh!"

And only God knows how tiring code breaking could be.

—X—

Roxas woke up the next day at the sound of Cloud's motorbike outside. He was lying on the bed, clutching a bunch of pens while Sora was asleep with his face pressed against the floor and saliva was oozing out of his mouth. Roxas pulled a disgusted face and thought that he might cancel the ice cream treat for a month for this…

He sat up and looked around. On the floor and study table were tons of pens and colour pencils, with notes attached to them. Last night, he, O' Glorious Roxas, only managed to crack a few messages while Sora did the rest. They got messages like "your hair is nice today", "I hope you feel better now" and other messages that actually made Roxas feel so stupid. How come he'd never noticed any of these messages?

"Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic — you're PATHETIC, ROXAAAAAS!" he shouted as he got out of bed and stretched.

"OI! Shuddup, up there!" Cloud shouted.

"Sorry!" Roxas shouted back. He then woke Sora up and demanded that he clean the floor. By the time Roxas was dressed up, his bedroom floor was saliva-free, and his room was Sora-free — which was good, because he needed some time alone. He and Sora had arranged the pens and colour pencils in groups and stuck a note on each group. Roxas stared at them. Sora had added the 'a.k.a.'s to make the message clearer.

'Don't worry :D (a.k.a. be happy).'

'Notice me now?'

'Happy White Day (a.k.a. Valentine's Day).'

'Good luck.'

'Lots of love from Wave (a.k.a. Nami a.k.a. Naminé).'

'Get well soon.'

The message went on and on, and it actually amazed Roxas how Naminé could think of passing messages through _pens. _It must've taken her ages to find the right pens and colour pencils to form the correct messages…and yet he, O' Not-So-Glorious-Anymore Roxas, noticed nothing. Pathetic Roxas. How was he ever going to make it up to her?

Making up his mind, Roxas grabbed the phone and dialled her number. Man, even his fingers could automatically dial those magical numbers…yet; he himself didn't notice her messages…

It was school break (for a week or so) and he was hoping that Naminé was not on a holiday trip r something. And then, thank God, someone picked up.

"Hello?" It was her mother.

"Uh, hi Mrs. Kamiya. It's Roxas."

"Aaah, right, right — Roxas," said the lady. Uh-oh. Was she going to kill him for hurting her daughter so badly? Roxas swallowed hard.

"Umm, I was wondering if…if Naminé's at home?" he asked, his voice sounding as calm as ever. That was him, all right — Mr. Super-Duper Calm. Tsk.

"Naminé? Well — she left this morning. Quit a few came to send her off."

Send her off? Left? Quite a few? "Uh…I don't really understand…?"

"You don't? Why — oh! Didn't Naminé tell you that she's going to that Art school? It's a boarding school — arts boarding school."

"WHAT?"

Roxas heard Mrs. Kamiya going, "Ohmigod!" and he guessed that she'd jumped away from the phone when he had shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry — but she didn't tell me ANYTHING!" Roxas said over the phone.

"What? I thought you'd be the first to know," Mrs. Kamiya said.

Think, Roxas, think! AHAH! The 'meet me at the Glorious Fountain at 3.20 p.m., THAT must be when she wanted to tell him! Gee, you're such an idiot, Roxas. "Uh, she's gone already?"

"Yes, she is. She's all excited about the new school — new students have to register by tomorrow and lessons start right after the holidays, so, she had to go today. Why did you ask?"

"I **have **to meet her — I **have **to return her the things that I've, umm, borrowed."

"Well, I'm so sorry, dear. Maybe you can give it to her when she comes back home."

"When's that?" Roxas asked urgently.

"Next month."

Roxas felt like dying right there on the spot. Stupid — idiot — pathetic — Mr. — Roxas! He said thanks and hung up later on. He opened the windows of his bedroom and _literally _jumped out of it. Thank god he knows how to glide in the air by now…

—X—

"Hi, umm — can I speak to Kairi, please? Me? I — I'm Roxas. Yep. Yep. EH? NO! That's SORA, my cousin. Yeah. I — wait — NOO!"

But too late, Kairi's elder sister was already screaming, "KAIRI, YOU LEFT SORA FOR ROXAS, DIDN'T YOU?" on the other line. Roxas smacked his forehead. Kairi's elder sister _loved _gossips, even though they weren't at all true.

Then he heard Kairi's voice. "No, you silly. We're still together, Sora and I. Roxas is our friend — hello?"

"Why oh why won't your sister let people finish their sentences first…?" Roxas mumbled. Kairi laughed a bit.

"Sorry. So, what's up?"

Roxas sat up straighter. "Umm, it's about Naminé." He could almost see Kairi folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

"What about her?"

"Are you folding your arms and raising your eyebrows right now?" he asked hesitantly.

"What _about _her?"

"Okay fine — d'you know she's moved away from our school? She's going to an art school starting today."

"Yes, I know that."

She _knew? _"Then why didn't you—?"

"Why didn't I tell you about it? Well, Naminé said she has everything under control, that she was going to pass you a message through her pens and—"

Suddenly, Kairi gasped.

"I shouldn't have said that…! I'm not supposed to…oh no…I mean—"

"Don't worry about it," Roxas said glumly, "I already know about the messages through her pens."

Kairi sort of squealed. "You do?"

"Uh-huh."

She squealed again. "She's _marvellous _isn't she? I mean, instead of cards or anything —_pens! _Who would've thought, right?"

"Yeah, she concealed it a bit too well. I was clueless until Sora helped out," Roxas admitted. "Anyway, that's not the point…the problem is…"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no — you were too late? You got her messages a bit too late?"

"More like…a LOT too late," Roxas said, feeling horrible again.

"Roxas! How could you!" Kairi said.

"Whaat? What am I supposed to do? I didn't realise it — I just did, okay, and it's—"

"But she's been hoping for you to get it since, like, years ago!" Kairi said.

"I know, I know…"

"I'm sorry, Roxas. But I can't — I mean, she's my friend. You've disappointed her so much… I'm sorry, I won't talk to you. Solve your own problems, okay? Say hello to Sora for me." With that, she hung up.

"I — hello? _Hello?"_

Duuuuuuuuuu…

"Dammit…"

As he passed by the computer where Sora was playing a game, he said, "Your girls friend says hi."

—X—

"C'mon, Olette, pick up, pick up — ah! Hello? Olette?"

He could hear Hayner singing in the background (more like yelling though). "Hello? Hey, who's this? Speak up, please!"

"It's Roxas!"

"Ooh! Roxas! So, what's up?"

Hayner sang louder and louder in the background.

"Jeez, could you ask him to—"

"_Whaaat?"_

"NEVER MIND! This is about Naminé!"

"About whooo?"

"NA — MI — NÉ‼"

"OH! Naminé, right, right! What's up?"

"I didn't know that she's—"

"WHAT?"

"TELL HAYNER TO SHUT THE CHOCOBO UP!"

"OH!" She then moved away from the phone. "Hayner, SHUT UP FOR A WHILE!"

"What?" Roxas heard Hayner said. "Oh, okay…whatever Olette says…"

Olette then returned to the phone. "Yes, you were saying? About Naminé?"

"Yes, about her. Look, I didn't know she was going away—"

"Because you _obviously _didn't know about her pen codes."

"So everyone else knows, but I don't?"

"Only us girls do. Anyway, Roxas, you broke her heart so badly—"

"I know, that's why I—"

"ROXAS, YOU NIMROD! POOR NAMINÉ!" With that, Olette hung up.

Duuuuuu…

"Dammit, dammit!"

—X—

"Hello, Selphie?"

Selphie shrieked. "ROXAS?"

"Umm, yeah. Listen—"

"Olette and Kairi told me about _it — _eep!" With that — yep — she hung up on him.

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"

—X—

"I feel bad."

"Hmm." (Cloud).

"I feel horrible."

"There, there." (Sora).

"I feel pathetic."

"Yeah…" (Cloud).

"I feel stupid."

"This is love, Rox." (Sora).

"I'm such an idiot."

"Yes, you are." (Cloud).

"You two brothers are useless twerps."

"Yea, we are — hey!" (Sora).

Cloud gave Sora a "way to go, brother" look, and continued to polish his shoe. He wasn't a very helpful cousin (very much like Sora when it comes to home works), but he listened to Roxas complaining anyway. And yep, like the one you just read, he wasn't much of a help when it comes to problems and solutions. Roxas stood up quickly.

"Right! I am Roxas Hikari! I'm a gentleman!"

"You _are?" _Cloud said, raising his eyebrows, but his eyes didn't leave his shoes. Roxas glared, but he didn't seem to see it. So Roxas ignored it.

"Why yes, I AM. Now…an apology must be made to Naminé," he said, more to himself. He stood there, thinking. And then, making up his mind, he ran upstairs.

"Hey, can I join—?" Sora began.

"NO!" Roxas said, and slammed the door shut. This was between him, Naminé, and the pens and colour pencils. "Right…let's start," he said, taking out all the pens, colour pencils and the notes containing Naminé's messages.

—X—

A month at her new school was kind of fun. She wasn't too happy with the fact that she had not much friends (only her roommate and a classmate as friends), but she was always looking forward to going back home when the time comes. When the time _did _come, she quickly packed her bags the day before and went to bed early. The next day, she was almost jumping with joy when she finally arrived at her beloved hometown.

There were a lot of stories that Naminé told her mother: about the so-called haunted bathroom, about a guy named Demyx trying to flirt with her, about a student who didn't like her at all, about her two friends, and so much more. Her mother had some things to tell her too: how much she missed her 'little princess', how she'd managed to bake a cookie without destroying the kitchen, and how a boy called Roxas kept sending stuff to their house.

"Stuff?" Naminé repeated, her heat beat increasing at the sound of Roxas' name.

"Yes, dear. Stuff," her mother said, pouring more lemonade into her glass. "Or presents, to be precise. They're all nicely wrapped. I placed them on your bed and I didn't open it. I don't want to be rude," she added, smiling. Naminé smiled back. She had the nicest mother in the world.

"Thanks mum," she said. "Umm, I'm gonna go and check them now."

"Okay, sure."

With that, she sprinted upstairs, climbing the stairs in twos, and quickly entered her room (she hadn't gone there yet — the moment she got into her house, she sat in the living room to chat with her mother). She was shocked to see around twenty — or more — boxes stacked neatly on her bed. When she had recovered from the slight shock, she closed the door and sat on the bed, staring at the boxes. She reached for the nearest one, and read the card on it.

_February 15th 2003._

Ah yes. Now she remembered: that was when she first thought of the idea. Why not pass him love messages through pens? She came up with that idea after Valentine's Day, anyway — when she'd finally decided it was best for him to know. She didn't expect Roxas to get the messages any sooner — and she was right.

With trembling hands, she carefully unwrapped that box of present. When that task was done, she took a deep breath, and held it. She opened the box.

Inside were her old pens and colour pencils (she didn't expect to see them again at all). Also in the box was a scented piece of paper. She felt her face going red. Was this really from Roxas?

She picked up the paper and read:

_Your message: Happy White Day_

_Sora's translation: Happy Valentine's Day_

_Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, Naminé. I know it's like…umm…three years after you sent this message to me, but I still mean it. Happy Valentine's Day. I'm so sorry for being such a jerk. And for being a coward for not wishing your 'Happy Valentine's Day earlier'. Please forgive me._

She was smiling and her eyes were watering at the moment. Roxas actually figured it out with Sora's help. She didn't mind with the fact that Sora helped — in fact, she was glad that Roxas didn't admit that he figured it out by himself. It showed that he appreciated Sora's help.

She didn't notice it earlier, but there was a heart-shaped chocolate inside the box. She picked it up. The violet wrapper had the sentence _"Please Forgive Me" _on it. Laughing and crying at the same time, she placed it carefully aside and reached for another box. And another. And another. Each of these boxes contained presents such as perfumes, small stuffed toys and even new sets of colour pencils.

Naminé spent hours unwrapping the boxes and reading the notes inside.

_Your message: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet._

_Sora's translation: You love rainbows._

_Okay, it does seem a bit silly to me for girls to go 'ooh' and 'ah' over stripes of colours, but I don't mind if you like it. I mean, if you do like it, I'd try to like it too. Again, I apologise for my stupidity for not realising your messages. I'm so stupid. I'm sorry._

That was the Roxas she knew: straightforward and honest. He didn't say he liked rainbows just because _she _liked them. Instead, he said he'd _try _to like them as well. Smiling for the umpteenth time, she carefully placed the box aside, and took another one.

_Your message: Distance should bring us closer._

_Sora's translation: The same._

_Yes, I know distance should bring us closer. I was soooo sad back then when I was in Zanarkand for that Struggle competition. You sent me no letters, you didn't call me, nothing, nada. I thought you didn't care at all…turns out I was the one who was too blind to see your messages. I sure did miss you back then. Again, I apologise for being blind. Forgive me please?_

_Your message: Erasable colour pencil, permanent ball pen liner._

_Sora's translation: An easy-to-forget person, yet would stay with The One forever._

_Look, I know you're very upset. And I'm very sorry. No, like, very, very, very, very, very, very sorry. You're not an easy-to-forget type! I mean, not to me. Try to remember back when my chocobo pet died, who did I turn to? Who did I share my sadness with? Back when my parents died, who was 'that girl' who saw 'Strong Roxas' cried like a little baby? Who was that girl who used to throw pens at me to pull me back to reality? Who is this girl reading my notes right now? Is she **THAT **easy to forget? Again, I'm so sorry. Forgive me please, Naminé._

Naminé reached for another box. However, this box had two dates on it. It was the two last days before the school holidays started — before she went away.

Your messages: Red, blue, Itex, Lovely Utah, and Meet me at Glorious Fountain 1520.

_Sora's translation 1: Roses are red, violets are blue, I just want to say I love you._

_Sora's translation 2: Meet me at the Glorious Fountain at 3.20p.m._

She frowned as she saw Roxas' message:

_Roses are red, violets are blue, meet me Glorious Go! Go! Multimark 1520 when you read this._

Did he mean… Did he want to meet her…? She swallowed, and stared back at that message. Slowly, she looked at the clock hanging on the wall: it was almost five. Should she…? Would he still be there…?

Naminé stood up and thundered out of her room.

"MUM! Did you tell Roxas I'm coming back today?"

"Why, yes dear. Why—?"

"Thanks mum!" she said, already running out of the house. She raced as fast as she could towards the Glorious Fountain. On the way there, she met Riku, who was out jogging with three of his (insane) brothers, Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj.

"Hey, Naminé."

"Hey Riku! Bye Riku!"

"Bye."

She kept on running (and she almost ran into a Moogle), and several people greeted her and she hastily greeted them back. When Glorious Fountain came into view, she slowed down. She could see him from this distance. Breathing hard, she stared at Roxas' back (which was facing her). He was sitting with his head bowed. Obviously he was still waiting. But should she go and meet him? …She didn't know…

Slowly, she walked closer. Close enough for him to hear her calling, "Roxas."

Yet, he didn't even lift his head. She tried again.

"Roxas!"

No response.

She took out her 'emergency pen'. After looking at the pen for a few seconds, she stepped closer, aimed, and threw it. It hit Roxas on the head.

"Oww!"

Man, she hadn't done THAT for a month at her new school.

She walked up towards him while he frowned, rubbing the back of his head repeatedly. She noticed that there was a sign stuck on his back. She frowned a bit at read it. Okaaay. What a weird thing to paste on your back…

She sat down next to him. Her heart was hammering loudly, and she was very, very nervous, trust me on this one. But she managed to keep her voice calm.

"There's a 'kick me' sign on your back," she began.

Roxas smiled a bit. How she missed that smile… "I know."

She lifted her eyebrows. "…_Why _do you have a 'kick me' sign on your back?"

"Because I put it there."

"Why did you put it there then?"

"Because I am such an idiot for not noticing your messages."

Naminé felt her face grew red. This was Roxas, Mr. Straightforward. "Right… Umm, so, has anyone kicked you yet?"

"Yeah."

She lifted her eyebrows again.

"Let's see," he said, raising his hands to count on his fingers, "Cloud and Sora were the first people to kick me, and then there were Riku and his three brothers, and then Kairi, Olette and Selphie kicked me, and Hayner too. Hayner made Pence kick me since Pence was too kind, so that makes it eleven kicks, and then Seifer passed by and even though he didn't know what was going on, he kicked me anyway. Fuu and Rai joined in soon after, and then Tidus and Wakka did it too. Sixteen kicks." He examined Naminé. "You can do the honour of making the seventeenth kick, you know."

She smiled. "How about the first kiss instead?"

With that, she leaned in, and kissed Roxas. This one sure did pull him back to reality!

_Pens final chapter — owari desu—_

* * *

A/N: I think you guys should know this, so here goes:

Main pairing: Namixas.

Other pairings: Kaiora, Cloti, and Hayner x Olette.

I know usually people write this in the first chapter, but I didn't want to spoil the fun. So, yeah. And no kidding, the Faber-Castell Multimark 1520 marker pen really exists, though the real one is actually 1526. I have one.


End file.
